Winners in TTU’s annual “Eagle Works” event announced

The winning teams in Tennessee Tech University’s (TTU) annual “Eagle Works Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition” have been announced. They are:

First place – Hands On, a glove developed to help manage pain and improve hand strength in patients with arthritis. Its inventors were Tea Phillips, Sergio Ramirez and Ashley Wheeler.

Second place – Gelnomics, a device that simplifies the DNA purification process while also conserving materials. It was presented by Abigail Collins, Amber Monroe and Bryan Materi.

Third place – Kangaroo Pocket, a device that can be easily secured to a laptop to hold accessories such as external hard drives and phones. It was developed by Wyatt Slagle, Tanner Larson and Colton O’Shields.

In addition, Hands On won an award from the Clouse-Elrod Foundation for biggest social impact. The foundation also gave two other awards.

One for most innovative idea was presented to Mechatronic Gurus, creators of the NaviCane, a guide cane for the visually impaired using sensors and vibration to assist the user.

The other for most creative idea was presented to Go Tube, a system designed for users of feeding tubes to be easier and more convenient.

The competition attracted 68 students from every TTU colleges. In the preliminary round, 20 interdisciplinary teams competed before the judges selected six teams for the finals.